The Blue Moon

by Lorena McCourtney

And still the boat circled lazily as yelps and barks echoed from it. Abby vaguely realized she was dripping wet and shivering, but she was too flabbergasted by the moving boat to pay attention to the chill.

  “You have an accomplice in the boat?” she asked Gamino, bewildered. Waves from the boat's wake were hitting both him and the dock now.

  “All that's in the boat is your dog, Finnegan or whatever his name is. He must have hit the control lever when he was jumping around and knocked it out of neutral.” A wave washed over Gamino's head and he came up sputtering.

  “Finnegan is guiding the boat?” Mary asked doubtfully.

  “No, of course not,” sputtered Gamino below her. It's going in circles because that's the way the wheel was turned.”

  “Now isn't that something?” Abby asked no one in particular as they all watched the boat idly circling.

  “Wave the flashlight, Abby,” Mary said suddenly. “Wave it!”

  And Abby realized that in the wonder of watching Finnegan making a solo boat ride, that was exactly what she had forgotten to do.

  She raised the flashlight and waved as wildly as if she were signaling to the Lord Himself.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  LIGHTS FLASHED WITHIN the cluster of big rocks at the north side of the wide entrance to the cove. Seconds later, a boat with official lights blazing roared out of its hiding place. It zoomed toward the circling boat but had to pull up short to keep from hitting it.

  “This is the sheriff ‘s department,” Henry's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Stop the boat immediately.”

  The boat continued its leisurely pace. The spotlight on the official boat flared on and targeted Gamino's boat.

  “Stop!” Henry yelled over the loudspeaker again. “You must stop now! Come to the back of the boat with your hands up!”

  The boat moved past them unheedingly. The spotlight, apparently guided by Deputy Niven, followed it. Suddenly his voice in the background also blared over the loudspeaker.

  “Hey, there's nobody in there. We’re talking to a dog !”

  “What do you mean there's nobody in the boat?” Henry asked. The loudspeaker magnified his tone of indignation. “Somebody has to be—”

  “I mean, I can see from where I am that there's no one in the boat. Just the dog standing on the seat. Wheel must be stuck. What do you think we should do?”

  Abby, in spite of her wet, disheveled condition, couldn't help smiling. The two men were obviously unaware the loudspeaker was transmitting their conversation all across the cove.

  “I wonder what happened to—” The loudspeaker cut off abruptly and a few moments later the spotlight suddenly moved again, this time targeting the dock. Abby waved frantically.

  The loudspeaker boomed again. “You okay?”

  “We’re fine!”

  “Where's Gamino?” Henry said shining his light over the water.

  The official boat cautiously edged forward, coordinating its speed with that of the circling boat. With the big lights from the sheriff ‘s boat lighting the way, Deputy Niven jumped between the two boats. A moment later the noisy engine in Gamino's boat quieted to a rumbling idle. And a moment after that a freed Finnegan appeared at the back of the boat, tail waving victoriously.

  Thank You, Lord, Abby breathed, and she knew Mary was offering the same thanks. She flicked the flashlight beam over the edge of the dock to check on Gamino again. He’d moved over to where a ladder led up to the end of the dock and was holding onto it.

  “You okay?” Abby asked Gamino cautiously.

  Gamino had only one sour comment to make. “I wish I’d never even seen that dog. I’m getting out of here,” he added suddenly. He pulled himself up one rung on the wooden ladder.

  “No, you’re not going anywhere until the officers get here. In case you’ve forgotten, we have the gun.”

  “You’re not gonna shoot me,” he said with unexpected confidence. “People like you don't shoot people.” He moved up another step.

  “That's true,” Abby conceded. “We’d aim over your head and try to scare you. But I’m sure neither of us is a very accurate shot, which means there's a good chance we might accidentally hit you even if we didn't mean to.”

  For a moment Gamino's upturned face looked as if he might try to escape anyway. But then he apparently decided the wild aim of two inexperienced women was too great a risk and settled down to wait for the officers.

  Gamino's boat, with Deputy Niven now at the helm, headed for the dock. Finnegan went into a frenzy of excitement as they approached and he spotted Mary. As soon as the boat was within jumping distance of the dock, the dog leaped.

  Finnegan raced to Mary for an ecstatic reunion. He was usually a rather reserved dog, except when playing in the backyard at the house, but now he jumped and danced and wiggled and licked like a puppy, so glad was he to see his family again. Mary embraced him like the old friend he was. Abby went over to join in the reunion and got a happy slurp on the ear.

  Henry maneuvered the sheriff ‘s boat so he could tie up at the dock. Lights from the boat lit up the whole dock.

  “The necklace fell in the water, but we’re fine,” Abby assured Henry before he could even ask when he jumped to the dock and tied the boat to one of the metal cleats.

  He went over to check on Gamino. “You okay?”

  “I cut my hand on the piling,” Gamino grumbled. “I’m getting hypothermia. And I’ve swallowed enough water to float a yacht.”

  “Considering what you tried to pull here, those may be the least of your problems,” Henry said. He turned back to Mary and Abby. “That wasn't exactly fair. Telling me about Mary at the very last minute,” he added reproachfully.

  “We didn't think of it until the very last minute,” Abby said honestly.

  He muttered something that sounded like humph.

  Mary simply held out the gun to him. “It's Gamino's gun. I’ve probably ruined the fingerprints on it, but he dropped it and I had to grab it when I could.”

  Henry accepted the gun, inspected it briefly and passed it along to Deputy Niven for safe storage in the boat.

  “Let's see. Finnegan is safe and sound. You two had the gun. The perpetrator is all ready for us to take into custody.” Abby expected this to turn into a stern lecture, but Henry just stood there shaking his head. Finally, sounding somewhere between resigned and admiring, he said, “I’d say the Stanton sisters have struck again.”

  Giving the sisters no time to comment, he ordered Gamino to come up onto the dock with his hands up.

  Gamino complied. Deputy Niven snapped handcuffs on him, then draped the shivering man in a blanket from the boat. The deputy tossed a second blanket for Abby, and she accepted it gratefully as Henry pulled it over her shoulders and waterlogged cast. In the excitement, she’d almost forgotten how cold she was, but now she was beginning to feel as if she’d stepped from an ice bath into a refrigerator.

  Deputy Niven was taking Gamino to the sheriff's boat when the would-be extortionist yanked to a stop in front of Abby.

  “You’re a fool, you know that?” he sneered. He was definitely in need of a shave tonight. “If you had any brains you’d never of told these jerks anything about the necklace, just kept it for yourself. You could have been rich!”

  “I’m already rich.”

  He eyed her blanket-clad figure and squishy old shoes, which she now realized were draped with bits of kelp. “You don't look rich to me.”

  “Being rich isn't about what you have here on earth,” Abby said gently.

  In the glare of lights from the boat Gamino momentarily looked puzzled, but he just shrugged. “And now the necklace is down there in the water somewhere. It’ll probably wash out to sea and no one will have it. Good joke on ol’ Van Horn.” He laughed humorlessly.

  Abby and Mary, Henry and Deputy Niven all stared at Gamino.

  “You knew Van Horn?” Henry asked finally, and Abby knew he was as surprised as she was.

  “I had some dealin
gs with him. He's the one who cut me out of the deal on the necklace. Me ‘n’ Wakefield both, actually. Though Wakefield was trying to cheat Van Horn too. As well as me and his wife.”

  Another shock wave. “You and Wakefield were working together with Van Horn?” Henry asked.

  “Work with Wakefield? No way. I wouldn't trust Wakefield any farther than I could throw my boat,” Gamino said scornfully. “I’m just glad he didn't get the necklace either.”

  “Actually, the real necklace isn't down there in the water,” Henry said. “That was an imitation.”

  “An imitation?” Gamino sounded indignant, as if they hadn't played fair with him. Then, turning resigned, he added, “Just as well I didn't try to go down after it, then. I’d probably have drowned for nothing.”

  Deputy Niven prodded Gamino on toward the boat, but another question jumped into Abby's mind. She called it after him.

  “What's Gregory Wakefield's wife's name?”

  “Ex-wife, actually. Claudia. Van Horn's daughter. Lives over on Orcas Island.”

  No one said a word, and Gamino apparently didn't realize what a bombshell he’d just dropped on them. He was more concerned with getting into the boat with his wrists handcuffed.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Henry said in a low voice to Abby and Mary. “Right now, you two better get on home before Abby catches pneumonia.”

  “Are you angry with us?” Mary asked.

  Henry frowned. “I’m thinking about it. I certainly have a right to be, don't you think?” But Abby could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe we should post warning notices for all the local criminal types. Tell them the Stanton sisters are on the loose and they’d better watch out.”

  “We’re harmless,” Mary protested.

  Henry jerked a thumb toward the prisoner. “Tell that to our friend here. He didn't come out too well in this caper. Neither did the guy with big ideas about a heist at the bank.”

  “These things happen,” Abby said in a philosophical tone, and Henry just shook his head and smiled.

  Finnegan was still wearing his collar. Mary snapped a leash on it, and together she, Abby and Finnegan started back to the van. Abby's shoes and socks squished with each step. Her wet slacks clung like just-pasted wallpaper.

  At the edge of the clearing, she paused to look back. The sheriff's boat was headed for the mouth of the cove now, Gamino's boat dragging behind at the end of a cable.

  Abby looked at her sister and smiled. “I’m glad you came along.”

  “Not a bad night's work for all of us,” Mary suggested with satisfaction.

  “With the Lord's help. I think we owe Him a big thank you.”

  In spite of the blanket, Abby was shivering, but they stopped right there and each offered prayerful words of thanks—thanks for keeping them safe, thanks for bringing Finnegan back safely.

  Back at the house, the night held one more success. Abby looked in the San Juans’ phone book and there it was. When Henry called a little later to check on them, Abby gave it to him: Claudia Wakefield's phone number.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  THE NEXT MONING ABBY was up early. When Mary came in the kitchen, still sleepyeyed, she looked at Abby's old jeans and sneakers. “You’re going to the office in those?” She blinked at the clock. “And what are you doing up so early?”

  Abby slipped the oatmeal into the microwave and punched buttons. “I’m going out to Paradise Cove.”

  “To Paradise Cove? What for?”

  “To look for the necklace.”

  “You can't go out there and plow around in ten or fifteen feet of water! And there's no telling where the necklace is by now. It could be halfway to China!”

  “Sometimes things wash into shore, not out. Anyway I have to try. Mom is going to be really upset if she doesn't get the brooch back.” She eyed her sister as she got bowls out of the cupboard. “Do you want to be the one to tell her we lost it and it's now at the bottom of Paradise Cove?”

  “Well, no,” Mary said.

  “I shouldn't be gone more than a couple hours. I’m taking along some extra clothes in case I get wet.”

  Mary sighed. “Okay, I’m coming along. Can't have just one Stanton sister running off on a wild goose chase.”

  The tide was out when they reached the Cove. A breeze riffled the water, but the sun felt unseasonably warm on their backs. Not exactly warm enough for a dip, however, Abby thought, not looking forward to what she had to do. Mary immediately spotted something sloshing in the water just a few feet from the dock. She released Finnegan and pointed to it. A moment later he returned with the stocking cap Abby had completely forgotten about and hadn't even missed until now.

  “Good dog!” Mary held up the dripping stocking cap and wrinkled her nose. “Why don't I just knit you another one?”

  “I always really liked this one.”

  “I’ll knit you a better one.” Mary rolled over to a trash can near the dock and dropped the stocking cap inside.

  Abby walked out to the end of the dock and looked down. The bottom was indistinct but she caught a flash of something down there. The necklace? No. But the glitter might be from a shard of the mirror that had lined the bottom of the box!

  Mary joined her and together they strained to see the rocky bottom on both sides of the dock from one end to the other. Nothing. Abby then carefully walked the high tide line on the beach. She wasn't hopeful. The necklace wouldn't have washed “halfway to China” by now, but it could have washed into deeper water in the cove and maybe even have been carried off by some curious crow or other bird. Which meant that sooner or later she was going to have to make that plunge into the cold water.

  And then she spotted it, trapped in a clump of debris at the high tide line! She knelt to disentangle the chain from bits of driftwood and kelp, then stood up to wave it at her sister.

  “It's missing some rhinestones, but the center part is here!” she called. “I told you that stuff was indestructible!”

  Back at the house, they tried to reassemble the brooch, but without success. Finally they decided there was no getting around it. The brooch was not repairable. They’d have to confess to their mother what they’d done.

  “No point in putting it off,” Abby said.

  “None at all,” Mary agreed dolefully.

  They drove over to the farm, feeling much like they had as girls when they’d had to confess something.

  Abby presented her mother with the dissembled brooch and Mary handed her the necklace they’d created, which now looked rather worse for wear, the lost rhinestones having created gaps, like teeth missing in a grin. Abby explained what they’d done and why.

  “We’re very sorry,” she added. “When we borrowed the brooch we thought we could put it back together. But it just won't work.”

  Ellen studied the old brooch and the new necklace as she listened to their tale.

  “Well, no disaster,” she said briskly. She disappeared and came back with a small box and a card. She dropped the gaptoothed necklace into the box, then bent to write on the card. Abby and Mary looked at each other, puzzled. They watched their mother set the box on a shelf in the living room and propped up the card. Together they read, “Tribute to my daughters’ resourcefulness and courage. The Blue Moon II.”

  TWO DAYS LATER Abby and Henry were standing by the rail watching the whitewater wake roll away from the big ferry headed toward Orcas Island. The sheriff ‘s department cruiser was down below.

  Abby reported to Henry that after their successful retrieval expedition to Paradise Cove, Mary had taken Finnegan to the vet for a checkup and he was fine. He’d slipped easily back into his usual routine of helping Mary.

  Now she added, “I’m a little surprised that you asked me to come along today. I appreciate it.”

  Henry looked a little guilty. He’d taken off the hat he usually wore with his uniform, to keep it from blowing away in the wind, and the stiff breeze ruffled his fringe of white hai
r. “I appreciate all you’ve done. You asked the right question of Gamino or we wouldn't be doing this. But I asked you to come along to see Claudia Wakefield mostly for another reason.”

  “Oh?”

  “She sounded nervous about my coming. I think having you along and telling her how you found the necklace will set her at ease.”

  “You told her about the necklace?”

  “No. Only that we want to talk to her about an item we think belonged to her father. All the circumstantial evidence points to him as the owner, but Sheriff Dutton says we’re going to have to have something more concrete before we can release it to her. And there's still the possibility it was acquired under shady circumstances or with illegal money, which would complicate things. I’m hoping she’ll have a receipt or something to prove ownership.”

  “I wonder why she’d be nervous?”

  “A visit from a law officer makes a lot of people nervous. She asked if she should have her lawyer present.”

  “Seems like an odd question.”

  “I’d say it suggests she may not be totally unaware of her father's shady dealings. “

  Henry was familiar with Orcas Island and had no difficulty locating Claudia Wakefield's home. It sat on a forested hillside with a spectacular view overlooking East Sound, the deep bay that cut the island almost in half.

  The house was large and elegant, but not ostentatious, a blazing white against the green woods around it, with a wall of windows and a huge brick patio. The large yard had a well-cared-for, but not manicured, look, as if it were meant to be used. A sign at the end of the driveway said Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast.

  The woman who came to the door was in her late thirties, Abby guessed. She was an attractive woman, with short brown hair, a slender figure in brown slacks and sunny yellow blouse, discreet makeup and a wary but not unfriendly expression on her face. In his uniform, Henry probably didn't need identification, but he provided it anyway and introduced Abby. The woman gave Abby and her cast a quick, curious glance, then motioned them inside.

  “Come into the living room. I had several guests over the weekend, but no one's here at the moment. This is a slow time of year.” She led them to the big room with the wall of windows overlooking the sound.